It's a wanderful life, so it is

We finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. This was the last stop on what had been an epic Far Eastern adventure. We had visited HCMC 6 years ago and loved it. On that occasion we visited LOADS of museums and ventured up river on a speedboat to experience the fascinating Cu Chi Tunnels, used by the North Vietnamese in both of their wars for independence. Because we had hit all the highlights last time, and because we were getting a bit knackered, we didn’t do much during this trip. So, what did we do?

We wandered a lot. We had gotten ourselves a fabulous condo with a gym and a good sized pool, which was great in the intense heat. The condo was located across the river from the main city centre so, rather than bus or taxi across, we walked.

The really interesting thing about Vietnamese cities is the myriad of small residential alleys hidden away behind the bustling street fronts. We had stumbled across these in Da Nang and now actively sought them out, to be honest, often for the shade they provided. Many of the locals sat outside on their stoops, or drank coffee outside tiny cafes and never failed to give a friendly hello. They also laughingly helped on several occasions when we hit dead ends in our attempts to get through. Many shouts of “no, that way!”

On one particularly hot day, we had just crossed the river when down below we saw these two gorgeous children having a fabulous time in their paddling pool at the side of the road. They were delighted to see us up on the bridge and started waving and shouting greetings. It seems that the friendliness of this country starts at a very young age.

The variety of sights once in the city centre was something to behold, from a bar playing homage to Gerry’s favourite war film, to a young marble girl sitting serenely in a park, to, quite frankly, some strange beauty treatment suggestions. Before you ask, no we didn’t go for the waxing. Gerry, rightly so, said we weren’t insured for that.

There were a couple of places that we did revisit from our first trip. Saigon Central Post office was built by the French in the late 1800s and is a beautiful building, inside and out, showcasing the colonial architecture with its grand high ceilings, detailed maps and old telephone boxes for the days when we weren’t all globally connected at the drop of a hat. Although it does still function as a post office, its main purpose nowadays is as a tourist attraction.

Another favourite haunt from before was Ben Nghe Street Food. This food court sits across the street from the Independence Palace and provides a smorgasbord of over 30 food stalls with a variety of top quality foods that you wouldn’t believe. On the first day there, Mhairi was reunited with her favourite banana blossom salad with chicken. She was in foodie heaven!

On the second day, after examining every stall in the building, Mhairi had banana blossom salad with chicken. On the third day, Mhairi had banana blossom ……. I’m sure you get the drift. Dang, that woman does love that salad! Gerry would have complained but any time we go out to eat in the UK, he considers every item on the menu and picks steak pie, so he wisely said nothing.

All good things must come to an end, and our time in Vietnam was sadly over. We will definitely be back, though. Since we enjoyed the sea in Da Nang, perhaps we will head to Na Trang next time. Who knows?